This post is going to be extremely informal. Quite honestly, my plate this week and next is incredibly full (for good reason!), but I just had to get on here briefly to share some amazing news––news I hope will strengthen you in your faith as it has me in mine. If you have yet to read last week’s post, Fully Convinced, I’d encourage you to do so. God’s timing of that post is just beyond words. In that post, I wrote briefly of the challenges my family and I have faced in our Ethiopian adoption. Our adoption had gotten to the point where it did not just seem impossible, but by all accounts, it was.
But once again, we have seen God do the impossible!
I received a call Monday, a call we have been waiting for for four and a half years, telling us of two amazing little people who live half a world away. Two little ones who will be ours. A little girl, four years old. And a little boy, three. It’s almost too wonderful to believe, and quite honestly, I think my husband and girls and I are all still a bit shell shocked by what the Lord has done.
I mean, He did it! All it took was one word. And He has spoken that word, and fulfilled the promise.
When we set out on this journey to adopt, we fully expected to have our child(ren) home in one to two years. That was back in 2010. Roadblock after roadblock was placed in our way, which converted this one to two year journey into a four and a half year journey of faith. It seemed, many times along the way, that it wasn’t going to happen, but each time, I prayed and distinctly heard God tell me, “Do not give up!” Over and over again, “Do not give up!” And so we didn’t. We chose to believe.
Last week, I wrote about Abraham’s faith. That He believed God would fulfill His promise despite what He saw––despite the impossible challenges before him. Scripture says His faith was counted to Him as righteousness. Now, I wish I could say that I had great faith all along, but I can’t. Doubt crept in about one year ago, and I began to wonder whether or not God was going to pull through. I wondered if I had heard right. I wondered if we were on the right path. But each time, I felt deep in my heart that we needed to press on. We needed to believe despite what we saw. I mean after all, that’s the definition of faith. Faith is the assurance of things not seen, before they happen. Faith is not an “I’ll believe it when I see it” ideology. It’s an “I’ll believe it despite what I see” kind of thing.
I’ll be writing more about this in the coming weeks, and I can’t wait to share it with you, but I’m going to have to take next week off to complete a ridiculous amount of paperwork! Until then, I’ll leave you with these thoughts:
- We must always seek godly wisdom to assure we’re pursing God’s will and are not chasing after our own desires.
- The path God sets before us will have obstacles.
- If you believe (after prayer and counsel) that you are on God’s chosen path, do not give up. Far too many people quite before they see God’s promise come to fruition.
- Always remain teachable, humble, and open to the Spirit’s leading. He may direct you in ways you do not anticipate.
- And always, always REMEMBER that we serve a God who does the impossible. Do not base your belief on your circumstances, but rather, base your belief on who God is.
Any thoughts? Share in the comments.
[…] weeks before we received the call about our children in Ethiopia, I felt the Lord prompt me to fast. I asked my husband, Travis, if he’d join me, and he […]
Thank you for sharing your story and the power of faith. Your last point (about God doing the seemingly impossible) is particularly cogent for me because I struggle to remember that nothing is impossible for God.
Best wishes on your admirable endeavor. When we’ve returned to the dust from which we came, not much will really matter beyond the degree to which we’ve allowed God into our hearts and how we’ve allowed the Holy Spirit to use us to help others. A benevolent person can become paralyzed simply by considering the sheer magnitude of potential within each of us and potential for synergy between us and how priorities have sabotaged much of it. Fortunately, because of Christ, we
have hope and redemption sans pareil (without equal). Thus, opportunity exceeding the imagination awaits us.
In the past, I personally have emerged from lengthy struggles weary and dismayed to find no apparent gain. In such cases, my own expectations have strangled my joy and my ability to receive succor from God’s strength and revel in His grandeur, which is all around us (as the Jesuit Priest Gerard Manley Hopkins so beautifully illustrated in his short poem, God’s Grandeur. It’s worth your time to find it if you haven’t already.)
Ostensibly as a result of nothing more than genetics, obstacles are all I’ve been able to perceive lately. But, today, I draw inspiration from those darkest moments that seemed to have no purpose other than to torment me. If I endured before, surely with God’s help I can endure again. It has been said many ways by many wise people (perhaps most notably by the Greek philosopher Epictetus,
who faced tremendous hardship in his own truly incredible life) that people are disturbed not so much by events but rather by their judgment of events.
Matthew 6:26
Praise God. so incredibly excited for your and family. How fortunate those children will be to become a part of such a loving, Christian family. Looking forward to continuing this journey with you and to see pictures of your new children.
Circumstances are so deceptive. We do a horrible job of trying to give meaning sometimes to why circumstances have happened. Usually I end up realizing once again that I need to focus not on what I think circumstances tell me but what I know to be true.
I rejoice with you that God has spoken.
It’s so hard to keep our eyes on a promise when everything else is pointing to believe otherwise! Great wisdom, Mark! Thank you for your encouragement, now and always!
Praise God for His Word. Your post is exactly what I needed to hear. Do not give up. Do NOT look at circumstances. Do not close the door to God’s working in your (my) life. Believe the impossible, for with God all things are possible. And HE will in His time make all things beautiful. Thank you Jesus! I will be praying as you begin this walk into the new in your lives.
Don’t you LOVE how God works! Yes, do not give up, if you believe this is God’s will!!!
Thank you Laurie for sharing this..it couldn’t have come at a better time in my life…I have been in the similar situation…holding onto a promise that God gave us as a family over 8 months ago ..there were times of doubt and frustration and even time when we gave up hope, but every time I was ready to give up God would in some way reassure us that ‘He who promised is faithful’.God bless
I am so happy to hear this article encouraged you!!! Absolutely, He who promised is faithful!!!